Current Conditions

Monitoring Network

Department of Health

The Air Quality Monitoring branch ensures that the ambient (outside) air quality in North Dakota is better than the levels required by the state per Chapter 33-15-02 and by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. To address this responsibility, the Department owns and operates a network of nine ambient air quality monitoring sites stationed throughout the state.

National Park Service

As part of their national monitoring network, the National Park Service has installed an ambient monitoring site in Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit at Painted Canyon. The Department operates various monitoring equipment at this site in partnership with them.

Industry

In addition to the ambient air quality monitoring sites operated by the Department, the owners of certain industrial sources of air emissions also operate air quality monitoring sites within their immediate spheres of influence. The site locations selected are based on computer dispersion modeling and prevailing wind directions.

Documents and Reports

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Quality Assurance Project Plan - QAPP

The North Dakota Department of Health Air Quality Monitoring Branch has the overall responsibility for administering the ambient air quality monitoring program in the state. As a part of this program, the Monitoring Branch is responsible for, and applies, quality assurance and quality control practices to all phases of ambient air quality monitoring.

By applying these practices, the ambient air quality monitoring program aims to provide data that meet user requirements for completeness, precision, accuracy, representativeness, comparability, and dependability such that this data can be used to make decisions related to North Dakota's air environment.

The practices described above, and the strategies on how to implement these practices, comprise the program’s Quality Assurance Project Plan.

Title

File Type

Rev. Date

Quality Assurance Project Plan for Laboratory and Data Management Support of the Determination of Fine Particulate Matter as PM2.5 and Coarse Particulate Matter as PM10-2.5 in the Atmosphere. (IML Air Science)

Annual Reports & Monitoring Network Plans

Each year, the Department compiles a report summarizing the ambient air quality data obtained from the network of air quality monitoring sites in the state during the previous year. The reports include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and particulate matter ambient air quality data. Online versions of each report from 1995 to present are available by selecting the desired year in the drop-down menu, below. A printed or electronic copy of a given report may be requested by contacting the Department at 701.328.5188.

For a number of years, in addition to the annual report, the Department also published quarterly reports. These have now been superseded by the ability to generate custom time period data summaries. These summaries can cover historical periods (including those covered by the quarterly reports) up until the present.

A custom summary can be requested by calling 701.328.5188 or emailing Ryan Mills (rmills@nd.gov).